The country's gross domestic product (GDP) numbers for the second quarter of this financial year, due to be issued on Friday, would depend on how the services sector did.This is not only because the tertiary sector is the largest contributor, at a little over 60 per cent of the economy. It is also because industry only partially recovered in the second quarter at an aggregate level.
However, the secondary sector's output contracted in two of the three months, July and September, of the three in the quarter. It had fallen in as many months in the first quarter as well.
Besides, agriculture might not give much of the relief, economists said, though the monsoon had recovered in August and September.
The economy grew 5.5 per cent in the first quarter, against 8 per cent in the corresponding period of last year. Industry (without construction) had grown by just 0.8 per cent against the 6.5 per cent in April-June of 2011-12 and services by 7.4 per cent against 9.3 per cent earlier. Agriculture grew 2.9 per cent, against 3.7 per cent in the quarter last year. The economy grew 5.3 per cent in the fourth and final quarter of 2011-12.
"If industry grows sub-three per cent and agriculture also grows sub-three per cent in the second quarter, the burden to give a boost to GDP will fall on services," said Anis Chakravarty, senior director, Deloitte in India.
He said so while also noting that services did not perform too well in the first quarter, falling below 8